Inspiring Tomorrow's Engineers by Sparking a Passion in STEM
Our university support is dedicated to furthering the advancement of semiconductor materials, devices and processes.
As part of our commitment to education, the Micron Foundation supports research opportunities at universities around the world. Our university partnerships promote innovation through collaboration by funding laboratories and research projects that provide unique opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
Research Grants
We provide grants to support ongoing research efforts and improve engineering education by providing hands-on opportunities and/or state-of-the-art equipment.
University partnerships are by Micron invitation only. To discuss proposal ideas, please contact the Micron Foundation.
University Partnerships
Our University Relations programs are active all over the world with relationships and projects at each of the following universities:
- Boise State University
- Brigham Young University
- George Mason University
- Iowa State University
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Stanford University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Idaho
- University of Utah
- University of Virginia
- University of Washington
- Utah State University
- Virginia Commonwealth
- Virginia Tech
- Nanyang Technological University
- National University of Singapore
- Politecnico di Milano
- University of Catania
- University of L'Aquila
- University of Milano Bicocca
- University of Napoli “Federico II”
- University of Napoli “Parthenope”
- University of Napoli “Seconda Università degli Studi”
- University of Padova
- University of Pavia
- University of Roma "La Sapienza"
- University of Napoli Salerno
- University of Napoli Sannio
- Fudan University
- University of Bristol
University Spotlight
Micron invests in combinatorial research lab at the University of Washington
The Micron Foundation, Micron Technology and the University of Washington (UW) partner to create the Micron Laboratory for Combinatorial Materials Exploration, a multi-discipline laboratory housed in the materials science department.
The lab opened on March 19, 2007. Boise-based Micron Technology Inc., manufacturer of memory chips and image sensors, and the Micron Foundation helped launch the innovative new lab led by Professor Fumio Ohuchi. To date over 30 undergraduate and graduate students from 4 different disciplines have worked in the research lab.
The foundation provided cash gifts to help with new equipment purchases, lab operation and student support. Micron donated equipment and lab supplies worth over $400,000. Both gifts will help the lab pursue its goal to test new combinations of materials for use in smaller and smaller microchips.
The computer chip industry is facing a predicament: as chips get smaller they are reaching a physical limit. Today’s semiconductor devices are made of parts containing just a few hundred atoms of silicon and other materials. As consumers demand even faster and smaller devices, nanoscale effects will change how these materials behave.
“Silicon is still an absolutely good material for the active area, where the electrons travel,” Ohuchi said. “The supporting material, the surrounding scaffold, will have to change as we push the technical limit. Smaller devices require new combinations of materials.”
The Micron lab’s machines automate materials testing by creating a wafer, called a materials library, whose properties change gradually. By layering these wafers, a single test can evaluate all possible combinations of important factors—such as manufacturing process, material composition and atomic structure—to see which produce the best attributes. The word “combinatorial” in the lab’s name refers to this system for combining different materials.
The lab is part of Micron’s efforts to advance education, primarily in science and engineering, by establishing strategic partnerships with premier research universities.
“By collaborating with the UW on combinatorial materials, we have a unique opportunity to enhance advanced research activities that continue to drive material development efforts and digital technology innovation,” said Scott DeBoer, Micron’s vice president of process development.